Risi Competizione s No. 62 Ferrari 430GT, driven by Mika Salo and Jaime Melo, took first in the GT2 Class at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach; while the team s No. 61 Ferrari 430GT, piloted by Nic Jonsson and Anthony Lazzaro finished third, to give Risi Competizione it s first double podium of the season.
The win was the third in a row for the Houston-based team in 2007; going back to 2006, the team has now won five of its last six races (Mosport, Laguna Seca, Sebring, St. Petersburg, and Long Beach); Salo has won the last 6 races he has started for the team (Portland, Utah, Laguna Seca, Sebring, St. Petersburg, and Long Beach) and Melo has won his last five starts (Portland, Utah, Sebring, St. Petersburg, Long Beach) for the Rosso Corsa-clad Ferrari team.
“It was a great team effort, ” said Team Manager Dave Sims. “The drivers, the techs, the Michelin tires, the strategy, all worked extremely well. We are delighted with the result at Long Beach because our competition is getting tougher each race. It is an honor to race in GT2 in ALMS because we face, at each race, some of the toughest and best competitors in the world. It gets tougher each race and so we have to keep improving. ”
Risi Competizione came into the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach facing a new set of challenges in this short 100 minute ALMS race (the typical length for an ALMS race is two hours and forty-five minutes). Jaime Melo, one-half of the driving team of Salo and Melo for Risi Competizione s No. 62 Rosso Corsa Ferrari 430GT, had suffered a motorbike accident in Italy prior to coming to Long Beach to race. The accident, although minor, dinged Melo s shoulder—not a good situation for a man who drives race cars at high speeds and needs full strength in his shoulders to wrestle them around the track. “It s always something, ” was all that Team Managing Director Giuseppe Risi would say about the incident. “This team has overcome a lot of challenges in the last two years, and we ll find a way to deal with this one. But nothing is ever easy at this level of the game. ”
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